Q&A;: Orange Is the New Black's Matt McGorry Talks Fans Who Want Him to Sit on Their Faces

"Frankly, I don't quite understand what pleasure they'd get out of that."

By
Clover Hope

Jun 20, 2014

Litchfield's Prince Charming officially has a mean streak. Officer John Bennett had viewers swooning through season one of Orange Is the New Black — and kind of ignoring the fact that a guard courting (and impregnating) a prisoner is illegal. But Bennett isn't just the nice guy anymore. His wrath kicks off after his inmate-girlfriend Daya's crew blackmails him to sneak in contraband like Yoo-Hoo (in his prosthetic leg, of course), in exchange for keeping the baby a secret. The "leg-based contraband" operation (as Flaca puts it) doesn't last. Pressured by demands from up top, Bennett starts power tripping and flipping out on inmates, even unfairly sending Maria to solitary.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

So what — he's still adorable. Who else would comfort a hormonal Daya by leaving spinach under her pillow for prenatal nourishment? Cosmopolitan.com spoke with actor/ex-bodybuilder Matt McGorry about playing the good-cop-gone-bad, his future as a Magic Mike stripper, and why he's still dodging marriage proposals on Twitter.

Bennett was 100 percent lovable in season one, but things are complicated now. How has the fan response changed?It hasn't been very different, which is nice for me. People still seem to really like the character. One of the things in season one that's easy to overlook is that he's doing an illegal thing when he begins this relationship with Daya — even if he does love her. The power dynamic in the prison makes it such that it's not a decision that's entirely of free will. Daya says at one point: He has all the power and she has nothing. I think it's cool that the audience gets just as roped into the romance. And it's only once we actually start to see the difficulties and the layers that we start to question: Oh, maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.

The secret about Daya's pregnancy is kind of out. She wants to tell the administration, but Bennett refuses. Some fans are like, "Why won't he just tell the truth?"Daya says at one point, "I love you, John, but you're a pussy." I've heard that a couple times in the Twittersphere. It can be split. You have some people that think, What a jerk. And then you have some people who say, "Of course, he's not going to say anything and Daya's being unrealistic."

How extreme does the reaction get on Twitter?I mean, 99 percent of it is just come-ons and, "Will you marry me," and various forms of "Will you have sex with me?" [Laughs] It's nice and a rare thing when someone's like, "You're a great actor. What a great performance." I don't take it personally when that doesn't happen. Someone on Instagram said, "I wish I could hide all the chairs in the world so you'd have to sit on my face."

Wow!I imagined an elaborate scheme, in which someone sought to hide all of the chairs in the world, and I got so tired of standing up that I just had to sit on this person's face. Frankly, I don't quite understand what pleasure they'd get out of that. But maybe there's something I don't know. Someone [else] made a Twitter page of Matt McGorry's butt. You get to see my butt in episode six.

Is it really yours and not a body double?No, that's me. That's my ass. It wasn't exactly my favorite angle, but what can ya do?

Bennett lies to Caputo and says that Mendez/Pornstache is the child's father. What's his motivation? [Reminder: In season one, Daya's original plan was to have sex with Mendez and then pin the baby on him, but she changes her mind.]I'm sure he believes that if he stays out of jail then he can better help care for the child. He's aware that Pornstache has done many things, which should've landed him in prison, and then somehow got away with them. So he doesn't feel like he's putting an innocent man behind bars. But it's without a doubt motivated by [Bennett's] best interest and the baby's. I'm sure he didn't think out the fact that: What if Mendez wants to somehow try and raise this child?

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

How did you react to the way the pregnancy secret played out?Well, I understand why Bennett wouldn't want to volunteer the information that he's the father of the child. But I also understand why Pornstache's screaming at the top of his lungs that he's the father is something that Daya might actually like to hear. She's the hopeless romantic. And Bennett is more the realist. In terms of storytelling, it's great because Pornstache is a character that people grow to loathe, but he's also doing something that makes him, in some ways, more likable than Bennett.

Do you think about whether Daya and Bennett will end up together?I try not to. I did that a lot in the very beginning. When I first auditioned and booked the role, I was never told how many episodes I'd be on. So each week, the only way I found out I was in the next episode was if I would get a script in my email box. I've been in so many situations where I'm sitting with a cast member and they're hypothesizing about the future of their character, and then something happens that you just can't possibly imagine. For example, at the end of season two, when Caputo lets me off the hook basically, it's not something I could've imagined happening, but it's completely justified.

You did a video skit where you auditioned for Magic Mike 2. Have you heard from Channing Tatum yet?I've not heard from Channing. I'm still waiting. Every night I wait by my phone with a picture of him next to my bed. But my phone has yet to ring for that purpose. I sort of made it without any intentions initially, although I have been in the elevator with [Magic Mike director] Steven Soderbergh a number of times, in his editing office I think. I should carry my iPhone with me, cued up to play a song in case I run into him. Like, hold the emergency button on the elevator, play the song and then start stripping. I think that would probably do more to get a restraining order against me than a role in the movie. If we get 20,000 signatures, maybe something can happen. Maybe I can play a Starbucks barista. [Ed note: Soderbergh is not directing the sequel, though he has signed on as cinematographer.]

Are you still bodybuilding or is that totally in the past?That's very much in the past. It's really a full-time job in terms of commitment. As much as I still work out, I don't love it as much. The only time I can imagine getting into that kind of shape again is if there was some film role that really required it.

Hmm, something like Magic Mike?Exactly! Actually, in my original version, I thought about having some kind of disclaimer: Just so you guys know, I could actually get in way better shape if you gave me the time and gave me the role ...